The "Three Living Meet Three Dead" Fresco by Buonamico Buffalmacco, 1336
Some art seems to have a life of its own, its own vitality and presence which can make it seem like a character in its own right. The...
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Carolyn Whitson
- Aug 10
- 9 min
What Becomes a Martyr Most? Part 3 of the di Balduccio Monument of Milan
di Balduccio monument for Saint Peter of Verona, 1339 After having examined the larger sculptures at the base of this monument, we arrive...
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Carolyn Whitson
- Jul 18
- 7 min
di Balduccio Monument--The Christian Virtues
Capturing the back of the sarcophagus of Saint Peter Martyr is much trickier than photographing the front. The apse is quite close by,...
42 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
- Jul 9
- 6 min
The di Balduccio Tomb--the Pagan Virtues
As much as I love medieval art that strikes me as bizarre, I really love it when I come across works which are marvels of symbolic...
69 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
- Nov 6, 2022
- 2 min
Origins of Sirens
On October 25th, 2022, I gave a lecture at Metropolitan State University on the Origins of Sirens. In the presentation, I trace how...
45 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
- Aug 16, 2022
- 5 min
Time Travel through the French Monuments Museum in Paris
I love when a museum makes learning fun. The French Monuments Museum (FMM, for brevity here) in Paris gives a presentation that is...
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Carolyn Whitson
- Dec 26, 2021
- 6 min
What Child is *This*?
Medieval artists had a standard repertoire of scenes from the life of Jesus to reproduce in churches and personal religious items. ...
76 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
- Sep 5, 2021
- 7 min
Crypt of the Original Sin
Caves evoke mystery to a modern person. We're so used to having all the light we want, wherever and whenever we go. Our interiors are...
210 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
- Jul 10, 2021
- 4 min
The Lion King, Part 2
The use of lions in medieval religious and political art hews closely to the traditions inherited from around the Mediterranean. Lions...
81 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
- Jun 5, 2021
- 9 min
The River God(father)
Baptism changed both in its practice and its artistic representation from its introduction in the Gospels to its depictions across...
107 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
- May 19, 2021
- 9 min
Chasing a Ghost Along the Pilgrimage Trail
When I began to study medieval art in graduate school, I found myself often puzzling over murky, low-contrast images in black-and-white,...
83 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
- Apr 30, 2021
- 6 min
"A Present of Things Past . . . A Present of Things to Come"
In this post, a few thoughts on why medieval churches cover themselves in stories. There are three times: a present of things past, a...
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Carolyn Whitson
- Apr 22, 2021
- 5 min
What Lies Beneath, Part 2
For such a small patch of excavated floor, the mosaic pavement in the abbey at Bobbio (under the current basilica) has a number of...
100 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
- Apr 16, 2021
- 6 min
What Lies Beneath, Part 1
The lovely town of Bobbio has always been small and out of the way, but in the early 600s, this was exactly what the Irish abbot St....
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Carolyn Whitson
- Apr 9, 2021
- 7 min
Fabulous Fakes
Many's the time I've gotten excited by the prospect of visiting a medieval church, only to find that "medieval" mostly referred to the...
97 views1 comment
Carolyn Whitson
- Mar 26, 2021
- 7 min
Medusssssssssa!
Modern representations of the snake-haired woman depict her as a dangerous beauty, but the Ancient Greek and Roman images show her as...
95 views1 comment
Carolyn Whitson
- Mar 19, 2021
- 7 min
Why photographing sculpture rocks
You could reasonably ask, "If you like photographing sculptures of people so much, why not be a portraiture photographer? Aren't living...
77 views2 comments
Carolyn Whitson
- Mar 9, 2021
- 8 min
Medieval Synagogues of Toledo & Cordoba
Jews were expelled by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492; all synagogues were shut down and repurposed. Two medieval synagogue buildings...
152 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
- Mar 5, 2021
- 9 min
Apocalypse Wow--The Sainte-Chapelle Rose Window
The stained glass in Sainte Chapelle (building completed in 1248) represents the highest achievement of the form. When you enter the...
922 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
- Feb 21, 2021
- 4 min
The Patio of the Lions
The lion fountain in the Alhambra may be one of my all-time favorite works of medieval art. I'll tell you why in this post. (For Part 1...
133 views3 comments
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